“Games are expected ideally to be fun/digestible/gratifying, but if that’s not possible then they should at least be meaningful (i.e. if I can’t play it like a game, I should at least be able to read it like a book).”

On that note, students from an online journalism program have been trying their hands at games criticism on the site, and the sum of their work is well worth a look.

Maria Kutscherow wrote about Beyond: Two Souls as an autobiography co-created between player and game. Robert Glashuttner talks Valiant Hearts, serious games, and simplified history. We mentioned Nina Kiel's Gender in Games book before, but now some preview sections have finally made it to her homepage. Also, Helga Hansen reviewed the book for Herzteile.

Slightly old news at this point, but Valentina Hirsch has a response to the lack of female assassins in Assassin's Creed: Unity. In more recent news, Robert Bannert recently wrote about the stereotypical depiction of men in games, concluding that cliches are simply an essential part of storytelling. Sanczny swiftly responds with an analysis of his arguments.